crj #11

CRJ # 11

A feminist is someone who is actively engaged in guaranteeing equality among humans. This equality is not just between the sexes but between races, social classes, sexual orientations, and genders. Pro feminist males are purely male feminist. They actively engage in the same activities for equality. While at the beginning of this class, I refused to label myself as a feminist, I defiantly have changed that opinion. Any class one takes in their lifetime affects their opinion, either by confirming the beliefs one already possessed or altering them into a new viewpoint. This class definitely has changed my outlook. From now one I will evaluate situations to ensure that women are not being suppressed.

CRJ #10

CRJ #10

When the constitution was written, women were considered property and thus not granted equal representation and or the right to vote. In “Constitutional Arguments” Susan B. Anthony comprises a strong argument against this suppression of women’s rights by using text from the work that denies the said rights. Her main argument uses the following phrase, “We, the people of the United States.” If the union is comprised of all citizens, then all citizens should receive equal representation inside the democratic republic. When seeking independence from Great Britain, men proclaimed that taxation without representation is unjust. These same men turned around and incorporated the wrong done to them onto other people, primarily minorities and women. Women were asked to follow laws that they had no say on.

Sharon Hays in “Flat Broke with Children” shows the battle between amending the current Welfare system to support those who truly need it, while guaranteeing a system that won’t ultimately end up corrupted. One of the main flaws in welfare is the negative connotation that is prompted whenever anyone mentions that they ware or were once a receiver. It is assumed that that person is irresponsible, ambitionless, and lazy. There is little sympathy given towards welfare recipients. While there are plenty of people who cheat the system by using their children as reasoning behind unemployment, there are thousands of people in the country that truly need the extra help, while already fully employed. Personally I have seen both sides of the welfare problem within my own family. My sister currently holds a study job and works more than forty hours a week, but the truth is that at the end of the day her pay is just not enough to support her three children. But according to the law, her pay should be high enough, because she is not in the poor range. This puts a lot of strain on my parents who try to augment her monthly salary as much as they can, while still trying to support me in college. While my sister is struggling to provide the best life for the children that she can, her partner’s ex-girlfriend, whom they share a child with, has six children, no job, and no desire to ever start an occupation. While everyone is entitled to their own free will, I do not find it exactly fair that the ex-girlfriend is living a better lifestyle with a nicer apartment, car, and the availability to afford Christmas presents through charity organizations than my sister, who is working hard to not go under. I think the welfare system demonstrates one example of how equality can never full be achieved in the world. In order to make a program to benefit the poor, you are also making a program that can be corrupted by the lazy.

“Unequal: A Global Perspective on Women Under the Law” by Jessica Neuwirth talks about the unjust laws purposely imposed upon women around the world, especially Muslim women. I feel this article addressed many of my concerns about being labeled a feminist in the being of the class. While, I believed in equality for women, I also believed that feminist were more towards American revolutions of equality, while the real battle belongs in foreign cultures where women are more specifically targeted. For my second event, I watched the film on the Iranian divorce process. During this process women are not treated as full citizens and a divorce requires unreal sacrifices that force many women to stay in unhappy, abusive relationships. In order to receive a divorce, women must for forfeit all rights to their children, money, house, and reputation. There are many different degrees of equality around the world for women, children, and minorities, but I have to believe that the United States is on the leading edge of equality; which is a scary statement because if there is still room for improvement here in the states then there is a massive need for improvement globally.

Activity #10

Activity #10

Division in Labor

In an ideal world salaries would be based off a combination of working power, ability, experience, and education. There would be a mysterious but fair equation that evaluated workers assets and generated reasonable pay values. While many would like to believe that this system is already in place it only takes a brief analysis of the current job market to realize that women are far below on the pay scale. The difference on of the gender gap in salaries is not based on a difference in skills or abilities among the sexes, but wrath a cultural divide that promotes the inhibition of women gaining high salaries in the majority of the working industry. The division in the work force can be traced to the division in labor at the home. Over time, women have been expected to take care of the home while men have been in charge of the more worldly behaviors. Children play a huge role in where women will end up on the salary spectrum.

Children promote the inhibition of women receiving higher salaries because they can delay women from being active in the work force. Employers do not want to pay someone who will be needed frequent time off, reduced hours, or other special requirements the same as they would pay an employee that would be available full time all year round. Women are typically expected to the ones in a marriage to stay home and care for the children. If a woman decides to leave the work force the duration her children are at home then she faces a lower rate of return to the work field due to skills depreciation during her time off and the increase of knowledge needed to obtain that occupation. Men on the other hand usually do not take an absent of leave for their children, so they are able to keep up with their occupation, and thus earn a higher salary in the process. While this can been seen as choice made by women in order to have a family, it is a cultural default to assume that women are the caretakers of the home. Although the division of time and labor in the home may affect many women, it does not account for the pay differential between males and females that are single or without children.

The gender gap in salaries can partially be explained by the gender gap in occupational tracks. Women and men both tend to gain education and skills for jobs that are dominated by their own sex. For women, these jobs are typically are the lower on the pay scale for their education level, but they are more family friendly. These trends to stay in certain occupation fields based on gender are culturally produced.

The gender gap in the work force is a culturally prorogated system. Women fall behind men on the pay scale because of their expected family and home roles along with the gender expectations placed for them. There are three main ways to stop and attempt to fix the gender gap. The first is education and admittance that there is a gap. In order to close the gap there needs to be family friendly working environments so women and men do not have to choose between a career and a family.

Event #2

Event #2 Divorce Iranian Style

After five minutes of this documentary there were obvious connections between the film and the Women Studies course. The documentary focused on the struggles women face when trying to separate from the husbands in Iran. This task is often nearly impossible and requires countless sacrifices that would prevent most women from ever seeking a divorce to begin with. Having grown up in the United States it is easy to overlook seemingly simple privileges granted to women, such as a right to divorce, a right to seek aide from abuse, and the right to happiness. There were two stories that particularly not only related well to the class, but had an impact on emotionally. These stories were of the judge’s own daughter and of a teenage girl Ziba.

Ziba is a young teenage girl who seeking a divorce from her husband due to a conflict in their original marriage agreement and because of their incompatibility. In the United States this would be reason enough to make grounds for a divorce, but in Iran there are a select few reasons women can actively claim in order to actually gain separation. The two grounds women most commonly use are that their husband cannot father a child and deception. Ziba felt that her husband had deceived her by not allowing her to continue her education like he promised her father that he would. She was significantly unhappy inside the matrimony but according to the court system she had no right to seek a divorce. While she pleaded that she was too young, as long as the girl has reached puberty it was completely legal for her to be married. Ziba was struggling with the notion that she could be treated with disrespect just because she was female. Females have little rights inside the court system in Iran because they are still viewed as property of men. Even if Ziba received the divorce that she sought, she would still have a hard life. After a divorce men are free to go off and remarry, but for women it is a much harder task. Most men only want virgin wives; therefore Ziba would be seen as tainted in the marriage industry. It is also hard to women to earn enough money to support themselves and their children if they manage to maintain custody of their children. This is because the Iranian society believes that women need men to support them.

The other unforgettable story was of the judge’s daughter. This little girl could not have been older than ten, but having spent numerous afternoons in her father’s court she gained wisdom far beyond her years. This girl understood that women were treated unfairly in her father’s court; she demonstrated by acting out her own court hearing, creating a mythical plot line of a women seeking a divorce because her husband abused her. The girl then gave an interview about how she never wishes to be married because there is no guarantee that she will be happy and because she does not wish to be trapped in a loveless marriage. It was eye opening to realize that there are countries where women are fighting for basic rights that Americans often overlook and take for granted.

Essay #2

Essay #1

Heteronormativity is a term used to identify circumstances where deviants from heterosexual orientation are out casted or persecuted by society through certain policies and practices. It is the expectation of heterosexuality as the norm; this expectation can lead to difficult lives for those who do not fit the norm. Heteronormativity affects the dominant construction of masculinity, views on reproductive health and rights, and the gendered divisions of labor.

Heteronormativity shapes the construction of masculinity through two pathways, one by establishing the division of the human race into two separable genders and by imposing a fear of variations from the two genders and their expected roles. According to Anne Fasusto-Sterling, the division of the human race into two sexes, male and female, are not enough. There is more likely three to five sexes placed along a spectrum ranging from female to male (139). While the division of the human race into two sexes is an inaccurate acceptance by common culture; so is the division of the race into two genders, masculinity and femininity. Masculinity is pictured through physical strength, emotional toughness, power, and domination over femininity. This image is reinforced through a common fear of homosexuality among males. Heteronormativity enforces this fear because it attributes the image of homosexuality as abnormal and wrong. Homosexuals, especially homosexual males, are out casted from society and especially from their gender group. Homosexuality in males is linked to emasculation, an unmasking a male as really feminine (Kimmel 214). This fear inclines males to be overly masculine, making them take pride in their masculine qualities and thus domination over women. This domination can often be seen in forms of sexual violence.

Heteronormativity has played a fickle hand in many aspects of reproductive health, views, and technologies. Heterosexuality encompasses the division of the human race into two sexes, male and female. There are possibly five actually sexes, but three are often “corrected” at or shortly after birth. Children born somewhere in between male and female are surgically altered to fit into one of the two sexes. When it comes to reproductive health and society views on the rights to health, heterosexuality plays a major role. Lesbians and gays have a harder time receiving some health benefits, especially those dealing with children. Heterosexual couples are seen to be the correct type to start families and therefore find it easier to receive reproductive help through procedures like in vitro, surrogacy, and sperm donation. Heterosexual couples have fewer restrictions when attempting adoption.

The idea of Heteronormativity revolves around two genders, and relationships being constructed of couples, a pair of one of each gender. The division of genders creates a gender identity. Along with this identity comes certain gender roles that the sexes are expected to follow. These identities include the division of labor into two categories based off gender. Women are expected to do more domestic jobs especially those attributed to the home. While women are now allowed and socially accepted in the working world, there is still a sexist stigmatism to the types of jobs women typically obtain. Women are usually found in the fields of lower education, secretary positions, and nurses. Women are still a minority in fields of science, engineering, and high education. Women are also a minority in leadership positions such as CEOs and heads of industries. This can be attributed the issue that men and masculinity are seemingly dominating entities.

Essay #2

Gender expression starts with the body and physical appearances. There are separate body ideals generated for the each gender. The female body ideal includes being white, thin, young, beautiful, and athletic. This image is enhanced through the media and can lead to sexual violence.

The media has the ability to control society’s viewpoints on key thought processes. When it comes to the mythical norm for females the media accentuates this norm in advertising. For starters the media has typically focused on Caucasian women. Until recently it was rare to see any ethnical diversity on the television screen, but even today the typical women picked for advertising, unless the ad is centered on real and ordinary women, have dominating Caucasian aspects. Women and the sexuality of the women body are used throughout advertising. Even when dealing with problems unrelated to sexual intercourse or sexuality, women are used as key ploys to catch the masculine eye. Women are used to advertise shampoo, alcohol, running shoes, cars, and just about any other common object. The media fully supports this image and mythical ideal, because as the industry says, “sex sells”. While being gender neutral and politically correct would stop these images from occurring, being politically correct is not what generates profits.

While the female body is often sexualized in the media, this can lead to sexual violence towards women. The imagery can lead to false pretenses about women in the masculine mind. Women have the ever challenging task of trying to balance sexuality and purity. There is a doubled edged sword placed in front of the gender as a whole, where women are supposed to be both sexual beings while keeping their pure, moral image. The sexual violence evolves because some males start to believe in the notion that masculinity dominates femininity and this transfers to the realm of sexuality. Men believing they can dominate women and compromise their rights when it comes to sexual favors. The sexual violence is often ignored because many still view it has part of a woman’s job and the role of her body to please men. For a women to give into the sexual abuse of a partner or stranger is normal because she is just acting according to her gender role.

Activity #9

Activity #9

Homosexuality is a common occurrence in the human population. One out of every nine couples living together is the same sex. Over six million American children alone have at least one gay or lesbian parent. Homosexuality is not just in humans; there are at least four hundred species of animals that display acts of homosexuality as typical behavior. With homosexuality becoming more conventional, why are same-sex marriages still forbidden in many states?

Marriage has traditionally been viewed as a sacred union between a man and a woman in society. Constitutionally and legally the meaning of a marriage has little to do with the societal viewpoint. Emma Goldman describes marriage in a more basic style when she states, “Marriage is primarily an economic arrangement, an insurance pact (389). Legally marriage contracts provide certain privileges to spouses that include benefits such as Social Security, health insurance, life insurance, and the ability to make medical decisions for the spouse. While the Defense of Marriage Act passed into law during the Clinton presidential term defines marriage as between one man and one woman, there is nothing about marriage that allows for this Act to be constitutional. The government is supposed to rise above the popular societal viewpoint and protect the rights of minorities. Homosexual couples are the minorities in need of protection in this case. One could argue that if homosexual couples were allowed to marry, then anyone could marry to gain economic stability, and not for love. There are two points in reply to this: firstly, there is nothing about love in the legal definition of marriage. Secondly, according to law any adult male and adult female couple can marry, even if it is for economic reasons. Many arranged marriages are based primarily on economics. Although the Defense of Marriage Act has been partnered with similar laws passed by at least 38 states (Kurdek 152) the act itself is in violation of an individual’s rights and therefore homosexual marriages should be legalized.

While many societal institutions, especially religious assemblies, view homosexual relationships to be amoral or anomalies of human nature, these opinions should not affect homosexuals’ rights to equal constitutional privileges. According to Kurdek’s study, same sex couples functioned quite similarly to heterosexual couples. The only major difference was the blending of gender roles within the relationship, which is an obvious occurrence due the notion that there are not two genders present. Some could argue that the blending of gender roles conflicts with the traditions of society and could upset the balance that is currently in place. To refute this, one only needs to look at gender roles. The gender roles inside of relationships are not balanced to say the least. Women are casted as weak, docile, and lean towards tasks and stereotypical aspects that deal with the home. Men are described as the opposite; strong, aggressive and in charge of worldly activities. Feminists have been arguing for centuries against these stereotypical roles; therefore just because homosexual couples cannot fall into the two gender system, does not mean that they will upset society. Many individuals that are not homosexual do not fit into the ideal gender role assigned to them. They are not denied their right to marriage because of this. Their right to privacy, especially the privacy between spouses, protects the individual from being ostracized by society. Homosexuals deserve an equal right to privacy, including privacy in a marriage. Furthermore, the children, either biological or adopted, raised by homosexual partners develop equally when compared to children raised by heterosexual couples. Therefore homosexual couples should have the right to marriage and to a family.

Homosexual relationships are comprised of people. This fact alone should be enough for same sex marriages to occur. We are all individuals; while homosexuals are different from the traditional heterosexuals that enter socially approved marriages; they deserve equal rights. Marriage, with all the legal benefits involved, is a right. By denying homosexual couples marriages, they are being denied equal rights. There is no significant proof that a homosexual marriage would be more likely to produce an unstable family than a heterosexual marriage. The reasons for denying the institution of marriage to individuals rest primarily on the hypocritical judgment of society. Based on equality, homosexuals should be allowed to marry.

CRJ #9

CRJ #9

I have always been disgusted by the idea that women were property and Miranda Kennedy’s essay, “Cheaper than a Cow”, develops many of the key arguments against the idea of owning women. History, traditions, and even our constitution are plagued with examples of women being treated as property. In a wedding, the father gives away his daughter, a symbolic gesture of a prized possession behind handed from one owner to the next. At the end of a wedding s the couple are pronounced “man and wife”, the woman being now a possession of her husband. In Kennedy’s essay, young Indian girls are sold at auctions to men seeking wives, slaves, or someone to dominate. These poor families are willing to lose their daughters for less than the price of a cow. While this seems unbelievable from an American viewpoint; females are not seen in the same light in India. Kennedy reports that there is a dramatic decrease in the Indian women population due to female fetus abortions and female infanticide. Females are seen as a burden to the underprivileged families due to the custom of dowrys. The custom of dowrys itself is an insult to women and their role as a member of the family. These young ladies are treated as not humans, not loved ones, but as properties, as a chore that must be properly dealt with before the men of the family can proceed with more important business. The irony in this is that women are vital to the continuation of the family, but for some reason this fact is overlooked. The only time women seem to be of emotional and family value is when producing sons. While India is trying to fight this through limiting ultrasounds to be performed only for medical reason, not to determine the sex of the fetus, and technically outlawing the trade of women for slavery, the culture is finding loopholes. The only way to stop these destructive and discriminating practices would be to get the culture to become more accepting of women.

Judith Warner discusses the twisted image of women and motherhood in a western culture in her essay, “The Myth of the Perfect Mother”. As technology, education, and general lifestyles progress through time life is supposed to become seemingly easier. This is not the case in motherhood. Mothers today are suffering from a strain of trying to provide a stable, healthy environment for their children, balancing a full time job, and saving enough alone/couple time to not have their relationships crumble and prevent the onset of insanity. There is the notion in modern society that it us up to the woman in a relationship to do all the nurturing, teaching, developing, and every other task related to the general upbringing of the children in the family. It is up to the mother to make sure that her children are ready for the world. This task becomes more challenging every year; it is now becoming critical that mothers find the right preschool, the right music instructors, the right childcare, all in the hopes of placing their child higher on the development curve. Why is this task left to mothers? Because of the proclaimed gender oriented family roles. Men are responsible for the economic stability. Women are in charge of the home. While these may have been an even split in some family scenarios it is becoming more drastically unfair towards women every day. As the cost of living rises, more women are required to work full time jobs, which can cause strains in the home life. Warner reports that on average fathers work fifty-one hours a week and mothers work forty-one. Also with school systems in shambles across the United States, parents need to take a more dominate hand in their children’s education in order to insure that it is a good one. It is society that creates the myth of a perfect mother that can magically handle all the pressures. It is also society and government that holds the key to the solutions. Corporations need to have family friendly policies, government should mandate increased child care standards at preschools and daycares, and there needs to be affordable day care available to all families. There are some programs already in place through welfare, WIC, and other local organizations but they are not enough. My sister is currently raising three children on a single salary of less than twenty-five thousand dollars a year, but she is seen as too wealthy for any financial assistance. And it’s not even just the poor that need help; child care is extremely hard to find and unaffordable to the middle class as well. Society needs to start helping everyone in this field before there is an epidemic of insanity among mothers.

Charlene Gornes tackles the challenges homosexual couples face when trying to establish a family in her essay, “Partners as Parents”. Obviously their first struggle is in the pathways to parenthood. Naturally it is impossible between the pair; therefore they must reach out to alternatives including surrogate mothers and sperm donors. These pathways do not lead to guaranteed results, which have many parents facing adoption. The adoption system in most states is designed against homosexual couples. By not having a form of binding contract between them, homosexual face even harder legal battles when it comes to raising children. Often times in custody trials courts rule against homosexual parents due to the notion that a child raised by a gay parent will grow up tormented or become gay themselves. Also since there are no legal binds between the couple in cases of death and separation it is hard to decide who should get custody of the children or how the children should receive inheritance. There are no statistics or evidence to show that children brought up in a homosexual household will be more likely to become homosexual than those brought up in heterosexual households, yet there is still a lingering rumor that this is the case. Also there is no evidence that sexual orientation will alter how one parents a child. Society needs to learn to be more accepting of individuals and stand by the values that everyone has equal rights.